Low cost roaming

September1

In few months some of us would be sailing to France on LD Lines ferry so if you are internet addict but also rather frugal person, there a way to get decent mobile connectivity and not pay to much. There is MVNO in France that offeres pretty cheap Internet:
http://www.lebara.fr/?isoCode=en_GB
and has English webpage including management portal. Currently they have promotion where top-ups are rewarded with free data, but you can also buy a data plan. For example 20E would get you 4.5GB. They also have cheap calls to Ireland for 5c landline and 19c mobile if you choose not to use whole top-up for Internet. I have tested it with iPhone and Internet worked without problems and I was also able to enable hotspot for using data on my PC.

To get it just go to their webpage and request a free sim. They would claim that you have to put French address, but I was able to put Irish one and in 7 days later An Post delivered. Of course you can get it shipped to your address in France, although it would probably also take a while as they ship SIMs from UK. I did top-up using web interface and credit card, so there is no need to find shops that sell them. Or to try explain it if one knows no French like me.

flyguy

Not that it's not a bargain alert, but the downside of using a sim like this is usually -haven't checked your link- you'll get a new foreign number. So it might be a good deal for you but everyone who wants to call you will pay international rates. Also you won't be contactable on your Irish number (unless you want to carry 2 phones around with you). I think the vodafone Red deal is pretty good €3/day for 100mb of data roaming (not for tethering) and all calls included (from your bundle). So if you have unlimited calls/texts at home you'll have them abroad as well.
www.vodafone.ie/roaming/red-roaming

keithclancy

flyguy wrote: »

Not that it's not a bargain alert, but the downside of using a sim like this is usually -haven't checked your link- you'll get a new foreign number. So it might be a good deal for you but everyone who wants to call you will pay international rates. Also you won't be contactable on your Irish number (unless you want to carry 2 phones around with you). I think the vodafone Red deal is pretty good €3/day for 100mb of data roaming (not for tethering) and all calls included (from your bundle). So if you have unlimited calls/texts at home you'll have them abroad as well.
www.vodafone.ie/roaming/red-roaming

Myself I just use Justvoip with a forward to my foreign number.

So people just dial an Irish number and my foreign mobile rings

http://www.justvoip.com/en/callforwarding.html

Although i'm paying 7 cent per minute for the forwarding to a french mobile.

k123456

If on a wifi or data network, make use of
Cabbage App free texts
Viber or Skype
Voipcheap.com app , free or 1c per min landline calls

gingernut79

For the UK, giffgaff looks like a good option. 12.50 for 3 GB data tethering permitted and free UK postage of free sim card (took my parcel motel address last night but I didn't complete my transaction yet) . Its an MVNO running on o2.

DUBLIN_person

Op, I have been looking for a solution for using data in France for years... This seems like a really good option. Can you use it to tether do you know? As for the red roaming, it is also a good option, but can get expensive if you are there for more then a week... Also Vodafone have the tendancy to overcharge me for it all the time!

September1

DUBLIN_person wrote: »

Op, I have been looking for a solution to using data in France for years... This seems like a really good option? Can you use it to tether do you know? As for the red roaming, it is also a good option, but can get expensive if you are there for more then a week... Also Vodafone have the tendancy to overcharge me for it all the time!

Yes, I was using personal hotspot for couple devices I had so I assume it means tethering is possible. Having said that some remote rural regions are GPRS :-(

The_Conductor

flyguy wrote: »

Not that it's not a bargain alert, but the downside of using a sim like this is usually -haven't checked your link- you'll get a new foreign number. So it might be a good deal for you but everyone who wants to call you will pay international rates. Also you won't be contactable on your Irish number (unless you want to carry 2 phones around with you). I think the vodafone Red deal is pretty good €3/day for 100mb of data roaming (not for tethering) and all calls included (from your bundle). So if you have unlimited calls/texts at home you'll have them abroad as well.
www.vodafone.ie/roaming/red-roaming

Just enable call forwarding on your Irish mobile- its what most of us do already.

Qwerty?

September1 wrote: »

I was able to put Irish one and in 7 days later An Post delivered.

Cheers OP, been looking out or something like this. What Postcode did you use?

tomslick

Qwerty? wrote: »

Cheers OP, been looking out or something like this. What Postcode did you use?

I put in 00000 for postcode and B123456 for the passport number. The system accepted it. Have received a confirmation email.

WIZWEB

gingernut79 wrote: »

For the UK, giffgaff looks like a good option. 12.50 for 3 GB data tethering permitted and free UK postage of free sim card (took my parcel motel address last night but I didn't complete my transaction yet) . Its an MVNO running on o2.

Stick in a fake postcode on the end and you'll get them sent to a Southern Irish address for free

flyguy

The_Conductor wrote: »

Just enable call forwarding on your Irish mobile- its what most of us do already.

Ok but that means you're paying for the call to be forwarded to an international number, now unless you have free international minutes that might cost you more than €3/day. Or did I miss something? Same with the VoIP option mentioned earlier. I know €3/day can add up over a 2/3 week holiday, but at least you're gonna be quite sure it won't be more than that (and it seems a lot less hassle).

cormie

September1 wrote: »

Yes, I was using personal hotspot for couple devices I had so I assume it means tethering is possible. Having said that some remote rural regions are GPRS :-(

Careful! : http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057198894

The_Conductor

flyguy wrote: »

Ok but that means you're paying for the call to be forwarded to an international number, now unless you have free international minutes that might cost you more than €3/day. Or did I miss something? Same with the VoIP option mentioned earlier. I know €3/day can add up over a 2/3 week holiday, but at least you're gonna be quite sure it won't be more than that (and it seems a lot less hassle).

Yes- it does involve free/cheap international minutes........
If you don't have them on your own contract- do a national forward and a VOIP bounce. Skype even allow this- I've a Dublin geographical number, I can bounce international calls off- works out really quite reasonable. I got over 10 hours of calls to Portugal, Spain and South Africa, bounced, earlier this year- for less than 20 Euro.

Alternatively- use priority forwarding- only a set list of up to 10 numbers are internationally forwarded- the rest are sent to voicemail. Vodafone used do this (last time I used it was about 5 years ago- its probably still knocking around though).

September1

cormie wrote: »

Careful! : http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057198894

Not on Lebara, there was no extra charge for tethering.

cormie

Definitely seems like a good solution for anyone who will be in France long-ish term. I'd be moving throughout Europe with work and the hassle of needing a sim for each country is just too much, Vodafone red roaming is a good solution, but the no tethering clause in the T+C is a pain.

moodrater

Ordered, this will be great for google maps + while touring france.

ScouseMouse

I ordered mine. All we need now is LDlines to keep their promise to run....

Wizard

I got an email from Ldlines cancelling my outbound sailing last week, not too bad though, they put me on next day sailing with stenna and got days reduction from holiday park so not too bad really , am interested in this phone solution though as herself will be calling home everyday, what's the cheapest way out for me ? Not concerned about data as I use offline satnav on my phone

Wizard

Just looked on lebara site, looks like I can get 6 hours free calls to Ireland for 15euro top up ? Would be perfect for me, am I reading this right, is it to landlines or mobile ?

September1

Plain rate is 9c to landline and 19c to mobiles in Ireland and 15c connection fee - which makes short calls rather expensive. However you can buy bundles:
http://www.lebara.fr/boutique/offre#forfait-tout-compris
One of 15E give 6 hours of calls to Ireland, France and couple other countries plus 1GB of data, but I think it is better to top-up 20E and get extra 1GB of data, then buy 10 Euro bundle twice over internet so you get 8 hours of calls and another 2GB of data and you should still have 2 euro from online topup bonus left.

BTW I hate when mobile operators create such complicated systems.

The_Conductor

Wizard wrote: »

Just looked on lebara site, looks like I can get 6 hours free calls to Ireland for 15euro top up ? Would be perfect for me, am I reading this right, is it to landlines or mobile ?

Its a 15c connection charge (per call) and then 6 hours of free landline minutes.
Mobile calls to Ireland are @ 15c connection charge, and then 19c a minute.
SFR and Orange both have better international mobile bundles (though they don't match the landline deal).

cant touchthis

moodrater wrote: »

Ordered, this will be great for google maps + while touring france.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.osmand

Qwerty?

Is there an expiry date on top ups? Or if the SIMcard arrives next week and I to up by 20, will my credit still be there in July?

stimpson

Nice one OP. I was looking at €20 for 1gb with Orange and the hassle of finding a shop in Roscoff.

I have my old iphone 4 with Waze satnav which gets mirrored on my new JVC stereo - just needed the data!

September1

Qwerty? wrote: »

Is there an expiry date on top ups? Or if the SIMcard arrives next week and I to up by 20, will my credit still be there in July?

Yes, not sure how long it is but when I log in to my management panel I see that my credit has expiry date.

The_Conductor

September1 wrote: »

Yes, not sure how long it is but when I log in to my management panel I see that my credit has expiry date.

One month from date of application of the credit?

Bigcheeze

Has anyone received a sim card posted to Ireland ? Says this on the link: "Only available to customers with a French residential address. "

September1

Bigcheeze wrote: »

Has anyone received a sim card posted to Ireland ? Says this on the link: "Only available to customers with a French residential address. "

Yes, they are send from UK and they print whatever you put in there. So for mine last lines were I think Ireland(Eire) and then France. Luckily Royal Mail have routed it properly.

bk

flyguy wrote: »

Not that it's not a bargain alert, but the downside of using a sim like this is usually -haven't checked your link- you'll get a new foreign number.

As a frequent traveller, here is what I do:

1) Bring two phones with me (most people will have an old phone lying around or a family or friend who does, otherwise €20 will buy you a cheap phone).
2) Put your Irish Sim in the old phone, this way you can continue to receive calls and texts on your Irish number.
3) Get a local sim for the country you are travelling in and put it in your smart phone, I usually get a data/internet only sim and don't even bother with calls/texts unless I need to call hotels, etc. in the country.

I then usually use various data apps (Viber, Whatsapp, iMessage, Skype, SnapChat, etc.) for keeping in contact with people back home. I would rarely use my Irish Sim for calling back home.

Another advantage of this approach is that if someone tries to mug you, you can just hand them the cheap phone rather then your expensive Smartphone.

Alternatively if you travel a great deal, you can get Dual SIM phones that allow you to have both your Irish SIM and foreign SIM in it and active at the same time.

Personally I've a bag full of foreign SIM's as I frequently end up re-visiting the same countries.

The Vodafone deal is ok, but then it means you have to sign up for them and they are much more expensive then Tesco Mobile/48 months for Irish calls. I think the Voddafone deal is only worth it if you are going to be travelling across lots of different EU countries on your trip, saves the hassle of picking up a SIM in each country.

Fortunately this entire pain in the ass will go away by the end of 2015 at least in the EU when the new legislation comes into force allowing you to roam freely across the EU with your existing provider.

cormie

The vodafone red plan at 35 per month (12 month sim only contract) isn't so bad compared to tesco/48 sim only plans and for someone who roams a lot it'll definitely be a good solution. I think I'm going to sign up for it today (I've been on the red 55 a month plan for the same thing but I've just come out of contract and will get it for 20eur less per month if I get into a new 12 month contract, which will end as the new roaming regulations are about to come in so I can see what the best deal is again in July next year

bk

cormie wrote: »

The vodafone red plan at 35 per month (12 month sim only contract) isn't so bad compared to tesco/48 sim only plans and for someone who roams a lot it'll definitely be a good solution.

Vodafone Red is €35, Tesco Mobile is only €15 for almost the same thing (1GB of Data instead of 2GB, but €20 will get you 5GB of data on TM). You would end up paying an extra €240 over 12 months with Vodafone, that would go a long way to paying for an extra holiday!

September1

€240 would buy 960M of roaming data after 1 Jul (and 436M before that date) in Tesco Mobile. This also would include unlimited flexibility unlike daily plan.

cormie

That's an interesting way to look at it, thanks! I think 1gb would be too little data for me however, I've never gone over the 2gb limit, but I believe my average is between 1-1.5gb a month so that €240 would become say €180. Then there's also the fact I make quite a few international calls a month, you get 100 free minutes/texts on red so once you take everything into account, it works out around the same I think?

Also, this is for business so I need a bill coming to me and definitely don't want the hassle of having to do top ups, choosing what add ons I want each month and everything

flyguy

bk wrote: »

As a frequent traveller, here is what I do:

1) Bring two phones with me (most people will have an old phone lying around or a family or friend who does, otherwise €20 will buy you a cheap phone).
2) Put your Irish Sim in the old phone, this way you can continue to receive calls and texts on your Irish number.
3) Get a local sim for the country you are travelling in and put it in your smart phone, I usually get a data/internet only sim and don't even bother with calls/texts unless I need to call hotels, etc. in the country.

I then usually use various data apps (Viber, Whatsapp, iMessage, Skype, SnapChat, etc.) for keeping in contact with people back home. I would rarely use my Irish Sim for calling back home.

Another advantage of this approach is that if someone tries to mug you, you can just hand them the cheap phone rather then your expensive Smartphone.

Alternatively if you travel a great deal, you can get Dual SIM phones that allow you to have both your Irish SIM and foreign SIM in it and active at the same time.

Personally I've a bag full of foreign SIM's as I frequently end up re-visiting the same countries.

The Vodafone deal is ok, but then it means you have to sign up for them and they are much more expensive then Tesco Mobile/48 months for Irish calls. I think the Voddafone deal is only worth it if you are going to be travelling across lots of different EU countries on your trip, saves the hassle of picking up a SIM in each country.

Fortunately this entire pain in the ass will go away by the end of 2015 at least in the EU when the new legislation comes into force allowing you to roam freely across the EU with your existing provider.

As a really frequent traveller -less time spent in Ireland than abroad, usually visit several EU countries per week, often per day- carrying various sims and phones around is a bit too much of a hassle. You said it right that the VF deal fits me well. When I take out a contract I only look a what roaming costs as that will be what makes up most of my bill, I tend to use less than 10% of the mins/text/data included in my plan. Even if I carry around 2 phones in your case I will still be called on my Irish phone and just and up paying for those calls and the foreign sim. I also like my iPhone and I don't think tesco will give me one of those included in their plans. I know my situation doesn't apply to many others but I would end up saving very little for a lot of hassle. If only I could live without the Internet;-)
I not really a fan of the EU, but I can't wait for them to put a stop to these roaming rates...

cormie

That sounds like me too flyguy, oh another big thing is that while roaming on the VF red plan, you can call and text like you are at home. I sometimes need to make and take some lengthy calls so having this "as home" is also great and I think this could further beef up the costs if I went with the likes of Tesco?

September1

cormie wrote: »

That's an interesting way to look at it, thanks! I think 1gb would be too little data for me however, I've never gone over the 2gb limit, but I believe my average is between 1-1.5gb a month so that €240 would become say €180. Then there's also the fact I make quite a few international calls a month, you get 100 free minutes/texts on red so once you take everything into account, it works out around the same I think?

Which network gives 2GB limit for data roaming? I thought you pay 2.99 per day/100mb ? Anyway if you are heavy roaming user than Tesco is no good at all as they charge highest legal rates.

bk

Flyguy, absolutely for your sort of usage then it is a very good plan.

The best plan I ever saw was one I had with Vodafone a few years ago, it included 2GB of data per month that you could use anywhere in the world!! Yes even in the US!!

I paid €60 per month which included an iPhone 4 (€200 up front), 300 minutes, 300 texts and 2GB of data.

I was incredibly happy with that and I loved using data abroad, using Google Maps, etc. made life so much easier when travelling. Unfortunately Vodafone removed this great deal and then there was no point in staying on a more expensive Vodafone plan and in a different way I'm very happy with saving €45 a month for a lot more included with Tesco Mobile.

Really the only weakness I've seen with Tesco Mobile is lack of a good data roaming deal like Vodafones, if they had something similar (even a little more expensive) it would be perfect.

I've managed to maintain my internet usage abroad by using local sims. It is a little pain, but not so bad. I travel a lot, but not as much as you, so not worth going with Vodafone for me.

I'd say your usage is not typical at all, and most people would probably be better off with Tesco Mobile + a local sim.

BTW my cheap backup phone is an iPhone 4, since I upgraded to a iPhone 5s, so not so bad there. Obviously not everyone can do that, but you can a decent Android phone for €40 which can still do lots of internety things as a backup.

cormie, yes if you call home a lot, then Voddafone Red would be better. You sound like a business user so that is fair enough.

However for most people, they can probably avoid that with a little forethought. Just use Viber, Skype, SnapChat, etc. to call people at home while abroad.

In this age of smartphones there are a lot of money saving options.

cormie

Nice post bk, thanks a lot, yeah I think I'll just bite the bullet and get into the 12 month contract for red @ 35pm. Sure it's only 12 months and this time next year I'll be out of contract and will be free once the July roaming changes come to jump ship to something hopefully a lot better. It's business use yup so it makes sense for flyguy and myself with VF red I guess.

september1, the 2gb is only in Ireland unfortunately, would be nice if it was worldwide, the red gives you 100mb of data per 24 hours for 3 quid. Only problem is you can't tether with it so I'm going to have to get somebody to help me bypass this on my android.

September1

cormie wrote: »

september1, the 2gb is only in Ireland unfortunately, would be nice if it was worldwide, the red gives you 100mb of data per 24 hours for 3 quid. Only problem is you can't tether with it so I'm going to have to get somebody to help me bypass this on my android.

So for same price as basic vodafone red you get with Tesco 10GB of data in Ireland and about 1.2GB per year of roaming data, but with full flexibility and if you use less then you do not pay for it. It all depends if how you use data in roaming. If you travel often but use little data then Tesco should be better, if you use data in roaming heavily then Vodafone would be less expensive.

cormie

Yeah that's pretty much it I think. I'm just off the phone to VF after having agreed to get into the 12 months of VF red @35 per month.

My dad is out of contract now too and I'll be changing him to Tesco I think as he wouldn't be roaming like I would, and if he is he'd be in one country at a time only I guess and not need to take calls or make them like I would, i.e., he'd be on holidays, I'd be working abroad.

Looking forward to see what offers are around once I'm out of contract and come July next year

embraer170

bk wrote: »

I've managed to maintain my internet usage abroad by using local sims. It is a little pain, but not so bad. I travel a lot, but not as much as you, so not worth going with Vodafone for me.

If you travel mainly in Europe, the Vodafone Italy Smart passport might be an option. For €3/day, you get 25 mins of incoming calls, 25 mins of outgoing calls to any European number, 50 SMSs and unlimited data (1GB high speed every day and anything above throttled). The only catch is that tethering is not allowed.

I've been using it without problem for almost a year. Topping up is also a bit difficult but I manage it by setting up an Italian paypal account, through which I can transfer money to from another paypal account and then top up with on the Vodafone website.

http://www.vodafone.it/portal/Privati/Tariffe-e-Prodotti/Tariffe/Estero/Dall-Estero/Vodafone-Smart-Passport

September1

If foreign operators are included them Comviq from Sweden for 90 Euro has plan that counts EU + Norway + Iceland as single zone: https://www.comviq.se/Pages/EU/eu_en.aspx

flyguy

Looks pricy (didn't see €90 only €795) and doesn't even include a phone, can you even sign up to this without a local address/bank account?
Vodafone Netherlands have a great red business super plan for €79/month (free iPhone or other included) which includes all (roaming) calls/texts, 5GB data and 1GB roaming data (all per month) +tethering allowed +free 2nd sim for tablet, but is only open to residents of Netherlands. Also in both cases you still end up with a foreign number so whoever wants to call you ends up paying international rates. If only vodafone Ireland's business red super was this good...

makeorbrake

Some mentioned lebara at the beginning of this thread. Picked up a lebara sim at Luton airport 2 weeks ago - only needed it for 24 hours for data only. Was fine up until late afternoon. From then onwards it was dreadful.

I guess with MVNO's, your mileage will vary.


I'd love to see the european commission sorting this once and for all - so that there is no difference in data rates when in another european country. The hassle of picking up sims...well, it gets tiresome...and then there is always the worry that the chosen sim wont work as well as expected, etc.

flyguy

I think the lebara sim only works in the country you choose doesn't it.
I've looked at a truphone sim in the past http://www.truphone.com it didn't suit my needs, but maybe interesting for some. Especially the fact that it gives you several phonenumbers on one sim so people can call you at local rates (free for you if in truphone zone) even if you're not in the same country. It's a shame that only works in a few EU countries, however you are able to use it in most countries it just isn't free then.

irishproduce

Using Lebara Sim in France right now. Works perfect in dual Sim phone. Topped up by 20e and 15e used to buy the 3gb plan.

Bigcheeze

Did you guys get a confirmation email when ordering? I got nothing.

DUBLIN_person

Bigcheeze wrote: »

Did you guys get a confirmation email when ordering? I got nothing.

I got one alright, but it was in Spam

moodrater

My sim just arrived even though it was addressed to ireland, france.

keithclancy

flyguy wrote: »

Looks pricy (didn't see €90 only €795) and doesn't even include a phone, can you even sign up to this without a local address/bank account?
Vodafone Netherlands have a great red business super plan for €79/month (free iPhone or other included) which includes all (roaming) calls/texts, 5GB data and 1GB roaming data (all per month) +tethering allowed +free 2nd sim for tablet, but is only open to residents of Netherlands. Also in both cases you still end up with a foreign number so whoever wants to call you ends up paying international rates. If only vodafone Ireland's business red super was this good...

79 / month .... holy crap

T-Mobile do the Internet Europa add-on for 14.99 a month, 500mb high speed data and then low speed (64kbps after that)
https://www.t-mobile.nl/mobiel-abonnement/buitenland/internet-europa